Last night, skorzy made me home made meatballs out of grass fed beef, italian sausage, crimini mushrooms and fresh herbs. We're still waiting for our softball-sized beefmaster tomatoes to ripen so we didn't make the pasta sauce like we'd usually do, but instead were able to find an amazingly delicious jar of pre-made all-natural sauce from Whole Foods, Gia Russa (the tomato/basil version). It was a little pricey, but there were no preservatives and no HFC, just basic ingredients, and it was worth the price for the amount of deliciousness it provided (and we have some left over!). We were able to doctor it up further with some sauteed mushrooms and fresh basil.

We paired it with an '07 Montoya Pinot Noir (Central California), one of our stand by's, but really delicious (and under $10!).

That looks like one fine meal! What was your opinion of the grass fed beef over typical store bought? After really getting used to the differences I hate store bought now and can really tell if it's a good cut of meat. We just eat beef a lot less, but a lot better! Same with chicken - the real free range stuff (not the 'organic cage free' factory scam) is a world from the tasteless birds injected with saline solution are!

Since it was in meatball form and mixed with pork I didn't get an unadulterated taste of it yet. We have some beef left over we're going to pan fry later today into a simple patty so I can taste it without spices or anything and see if I notice a difference.

I agree about being able to tell if its a good cut of meat. My mom's husband buys costco steaks and granted, he's not the best cook in the world, but it just tastes like shoeleather to me. So much so that I usually pass on dinner and just have a salad when its steak night. I've never had the type of chicken you speak of though.

I love reading about your cooking experiences, and the pictures really help. I'm learning to cook more than just Ramen and Chef Boyardee, so I'm not up to that level yet, haha. Still working on perfecting Chicken Marsala. Your posts give me good ideas, though!

And Whole Foods is an amazing business with an intelligent CEO. Awesome.

Thank you! I like posting them, its nice to know you enjoy seeing them XD I only got into cooking less than 5 years ago. Before that I didn't know how to boil an egg (and its still a crap shoot with me haha) but watching cooking shows and wanting to eat restaurant quality food at home (without paying restaurant prices, lets face it, I hate having to calculate tip in too sometimes) instead of just the boring old college basics got me going. Making things like stews and curries and pasta sauces and freezing them has proven to be very cost effective too, and LOTS healthier than your average frozen meal that's chock full of salt and preservatives.